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US 12,004,456 B2Granted
Method for monitoring water status in a field
AssigneeN-Drip Ltd.
InventorsUri Shani, Sharon Dabach
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system for sensing water status in soil includes a porous material selected for actively proliferating root growth and a water status sensor that is hydraulically coupled to the porous material. The porous material is configured to have an area of at least 0.025 m2.
Claims30
A system for sensing water status in soil comprising:
- a porous material selected for actively proliferating root growth and having an area of at least 0.025 m2;
- and
- a water status sensor that is coupled to the porous material;
- wherein a first portion of the porous material is selected to have a hydraulic conductivity between 0.1-0.01 cm/hour within a matric head range of 0 to −500 cm H2O respectively and a second portion of the porous material is selected to have a hydraulic conductivity between 50-0 cm/hour within a matric head range of 0 to −50 cm H2O respectively, wherein the first portion and the second portion are formed from two different materials that are coupled to each other or the first portion is formed based on compacting the porous material with rolling or folding.
1 more element
A method for sensing water status in soil comprising:
- laying a porous material selected for actively proliferating root growth and having an area of at least 0.025 m2 on the soil;
- and
- hydraulically coupling a water status sensor to the porous material or sensing the water status of the porous material without physical contact with the porous material.
A sheet material configured to sample average water status of soil over a spatial area, the sheet material comprising:
- a first portion selected to have a hydraulic conductivity between 0.1-0.01 cm/hour within a matric head range of 0 to −500 cm H2O respectively;
- and
- a second portion selected to have a hydraulic conductivity between 50-0 cm/hour within a matric head range of 0 to −50 cm H2O respectively, wherein the first portion and the second portion are coupled to each other.
A system for sensing water status in soil comprising:
- a porous material selected for actively proliferating root growth and having an area of at least 0.025 m2;
- and
- a water status sensor that is coupled to the porous material;
- wherein the porous material is at least one of soaked in a liquid solution in which fertilizer is dissolved, impregnated with fertilizer in the form of granulates housed within pores of the porous material and impregnated with fertilizer in the form of hydrogel including liquid or granular or slow release fertilizer.
1 more element
A system for sensing water status in soil comprising:
- a porous material selected for actively proliferating root growth and having an area of at least 0.025 m2;
- and
- a water status sensor that is coupled to the porous material;
- wherein the porous material is formed with pockets configured for holding fertilizer.
1 more element
A system for sensing water status in soil comprising:
- a porous material selected for actively proliferating root growth and having an area of at least 0.025 m2;
- and
- a water status sensor that is coupled to the porous material;
- wherein the water status sensor is tensiometer and is configured to operate without connection to an external water reservoir.
1 more element
A system for sensing water status in soil comprising:
- a porous material selected for actively proliferating root growth and having an area of at least 0.025 m2;
- and
- a water status sensor that is coupled to the porous material;
- wherein the water status sensor is soil matric potential sensor, which comprises:
- a porous cup;
- a water filled tube;
- a sensor;
- and
- probe extending from the sensor toward the porous cup, wherein the probe is configured to sample the water at a height below a height at which bubbles accumulate in the water filled tube.
6 more elements
A system for sensing water status in soil comprising:
- a porous material selected for actively proliferating root growth and having an area of at least 0.025 m2;
- and
- a water status sensor that is coupled to the porous material;
- wherein the water status sensor is soil matric potential sensor, which comprises:
- a porous cup;
- a water filled tube;
- a sensor;
- and
- a bridge shaped channel configured to provide fluid communication between the water filled tube and the sensor, wherein the bridge shaped channel is integrated with the tube and with a column extending from a peak height of the bridge, wherein the column is at a height above the sensor, and wherein the bridge shape channel is shaped as an arc with the column extending from the peak height of the arc or is shaped as an upside down Y and is configured to be filled with water.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.